Russia's Wary Neighbors
Oct. 18, 2004
CBS
The former Soviet satellites of Eastern Europe - the countries that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld provocatively dubbed "new Europe" in order to annoy "old Europe" - are showing signs of nervousness.
It's not because they joined the "coalition of the willing" to support America's venture in Iraq. That's a price they are willing to pay for America's support and friendship. It's because of what's happening next door in their big neighbor, Russia.
Poland, Hungary, the Czechs, the Baltic states and the others are disturbed that President Vladimir Putin seems to be turning his back on democracy.
They point to his moves to turn the Russian parliament into a rubber stamp and to do away with popular election of Russia's regional governors. They are frightened by his cynical use of the terrorist seizure of hostages at the school in Beslan to tighten his grip on the country. "Suppressing democracy won't help Russia," says Adam Rotfeld, Poland's deputy foreign minister, "and it won't lead to victory over the terrorists."
Poland and the other eastern European countries have raw memories of the long period of Soviet domination after World War Two. They instinctively see any signs that Putin is turning back the clock in Russia as a warning that Russia would also like to turn back the clock in Eastern Europe - not to recreate the Soviet Union of course, but to reassert some measure of influence over its neighbors. They may be wrong about Putin's intentions, but they are worried.
The Poles are especially nervous. Adam Michnik, former dissident and editor in chief of the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, notes that recent Russian attacks on the Polish press are a disturbing reminder of the bad old ways of the Soviet period. "Those who remember the Brezhnev era," he says, "are very familiar with this language of insinuation and threats."
France, Germany and the other countries of Western Europe do not share these concerns. On the contrary, they are eager to do business with Russia, and have shown a degree of indulgence towards Putin's authoritarian moves that seems, to some observers, naïve.
The same could be said of the United States. There are signs that the Bush Administration is more concerned about where Putin stands in the war on terror than whether he is trampling on Russia's fragile new democracy.
The tendency in Washington now is to see Russia's harsh repression of the continuing revolt in the Chechen Republic as part of the worldwide fight against Islamic militants, rather than a local separatist issue.
So where does all this leave America's new friends in Eastern Europe? As is usual in the history of their troubled region, in the lurch. They are nervous about the signs of increasing authoritarianism in Russia. They have gone out of their way to help the United States in Iraq, and are now beginning to wonder where's the payoff.
And here's a footnote. Remember Mikhail Gorbachev?
These days the former Soviet premier can be found on the western lecture circuit but has practically disappeared from view in his own country, which has never forgiven him for having presided over the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev recently surfaced in Russia, praising President Putin's efforts to keep the Chechen Republic as part of the Russian Federation.
Why is he suddenly being nice to Russia's new autocrat? Does he know something we don't know?